People in Utah

Jason could only stay one week in Utah, but fortunately Ethan and I got to stay two weeks. Outside of family reunion time we were able to visit more family and friends. We would have loved to have seen more people, but we just ran out of time. I forgot to get pictures of everyone we visited, but here are at least some of the great people we got to see.

Great Grandpa and Grandma Richards

It didn't take Claire long before she took over the job of walking around with Ethan. :)

James, Claire, and Ethan

The Nields

The Olsens

Melody, Charlotte, and Kate

Katrina and Anna

Ethan with his party hat on

Lillian and Amelia at their 3rd birthday party

Grandma and Grandpa Burningham came and joined us for church our second week there

Ethan and I with Sara

Cruize and Erica

My parents, sisters, and our children at the Ogden Temple Open House

Ogden Temple (It's hard to believe I got this great pic on my phone!)

This is Sister Curtis. She served here in Northern Kentucky and she flew home on the same flight as us so we got to meet her parents. :)

Chelsey came over to visit and see Ethan.

Fun picture of Ethan's first experience with bubbles

 Aunt Edie and Aunt Karen came over for a few minutes to see us and meet the new babies.

Fun time with the sisters!

Rogers Family Reunion

We had a great trip back to Utah for our 2014 Rogers Family Reunion. We had everyone from my side of the family there which included my parents, three sisters, two brothers, and all their spouses and children--bringing our family total to 14 adults and 16 grandchildren (ages 7 mo - 8 years). We rented out part of a large house in Holladay near Cottonwood Canyon and just played and ate and talked. We were all together for about 4 days. We took turns being in charge of a big meal for the family and then helping with clean up. The house we rented ended up being an adventure in and of itself and turned out to be great for playing hide and seek. We had a bedroom to ourselves with a King bed. The bed was about the only thing that fit into the room, however, so Ethan slept in a pack-n-play in the closet. Fortunately, he slept well and did well with all the new people, places, and things we experienced in Utah.

In addition to hanging out at the house, we also swam at the Cottonwood Heights outdoor pool and splashpad with most of the grandkids, walked around Silver Lake near Brighton Ski Resort, played with the parachute and frisbees outside, attended church altogether in the ward we grew up, put on a talent show starring the grandkids, enjoyed a women-only lunch and men-only bowling outing, and had several nights of talking and playing games after the kids were in bed. It was very enjoyable and nice to be together again. I'm glad we have these times to get together to help us stay close and let the grandkids play together too. Family time is the best time!

Ethan's first flight and he did amazingly well

Here's the place we stayed in Holliday

Silver Lake with Micky Mouse Mountain in the background (Such a beautiful place, I just love the mountains and the smell of pine trees!)

It was only about 62 degrees by mid-morning --much more chilly in the mountains

Most of the grand kids from oldest to youngest (and yes, this picture includes three sets of twins)

Hanging out at the house

Ethan doing his favorite activity with Daddy

Each grand child got a shirt with their birth order number on it. Ethan is grand child number 14 out of 16

Ethan got new pajamas for his birthday from Grandma and Grandpa Rogers

Jason throwing up Kira at the swimming pool

Ethan liked the pool but didn't want to go into the deeper end

Eating Sunday dinner and dessert at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Melody with one of her twin girls - Charlotte - and grandma.The grand kids decorated this apron for my mom with their hand prints and ages.

The kids had fun playing with the parachute outside one evening. And of course the popsicles were a big hit too.

Happy Birthday Ethan!

We had a lot of fun on Ethan's birthday. In the morning we met Katie and Kerrigan at South Fork Park. They brought presents for Ethan's birthday. Katie's parents, whom we met at Kerrigan's birthday party also left a gift for Ethan before their trip back to Iowa--which was so nice and unexpected!! What great friends we have!

Later in the evening after Jason finished working from home, we celebrated some more. Jason gave Ethan a bath before dinner and Ethan just loved splashing and splashing in the tub! It was hard to get him out.

After a homemade pizza dinner, we ate cupcakes for dessert. Ethan got a candle in his cupcake that Jason blew out...and then Ethan devoured the cupcake. He really liked squishing it between his fingers and then licking his fingers. :) After we cleaned him up, Ethan helped unload the dishwasher while Jason loaded it. Then we opened gifts. It was a happy day!

Ethan is a cute 1-year-old who loves to be mobile. He likes to crawl or walk around with my fingers. He's eating more table foods and eats almost whatever I give him. He still sleeps really well. He doesn't like the grass and will pick up his feet off the ground to avoid touching it. He likes to be with me almost all of the time and will follow me around and pull to a standing position on my legs. He likes to point to things to get my attention. Ethan loves bath time but he is afraid of big swimming pools.

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Ethan's first major haircut

Opening presents

Helping unload the dishwasher

Ethan also likes to look at books. One afternoon when I thought Ethan was taking a nap he actually figured out how to get all the books from the basket into his crib and spent the time reading instead.:)We are so grateful to have Ethan in our family!!